The governor of Mississippi recently signed into law a bill that requires insurers to cover telehealth services on par with in-person care.
Like many states, Mississippi passed an emergency order during the pandemic requiring payment parity for telemedicine. The state is now joining several others in making those changes permanent.
“I think it’s a big win for the state,” state epidemiologist Paul Byers, MD, said in a May 16 Mississippi Public Broadcasting story story. “Particularly for Mississippi, when we look at where providers are, and health disparities, and even disparities of where there may be a county where the nearest provider is 50 miles away. And that by itself creates a barrier for that person to access routine care. I think that’s a huge win.”